Before Saturday’s 55-48 win over Creighton, senior guard Alex Louin allowed herself to embrace the moment. With family and friends in attendance, tears streamed down her face as PA announcer Jim Bachman announced her name for the final time at Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.  As the 7th top-scoring player in team history, with 1403 points at the culmination of the regular season, Louin’s emotional reaction to her final home game makes sense. A three-year starter, Louin has helped lead the Wildcats to an 84-58 record, three NIT tournament berths and a likely NCAA tournament berth this year —knock on wood.  

But just because Louin’s career as a Wildcat is coming to an end, it does not mean the same for her life as an athlete and in the sports industry.  After graduating this May as an Economics and Finance double major in the School of Business, Louin has plans to explore options to play basketball professionally. Louin lists the Sports Economics class she took as her favorite in her time as a Wildcat, suggesting a possible career path down the road. Certainly, Louin possesses the mindset necessary to thrive in a front office. 

“I’d say [as a leader,] my greatest strength is leading by example,” Louin said. “We’ve all been around people who just like to talk the talk. I’m going to do things the right way and hopefully people will follow.” 

Her leadership and that of the other veterans has also been vital to the Wildcats’ success this season. The team returned over 90 percent of its scoring from last season, and Louin believes this has been vital to this team, especially due to the intricacies of Wildcats head coach Harry Perretta’s offense. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s hard, it’s different,” she explained. “They kind of give us a lot of flexibility in terms of making the read of how the defense is playing. It usually takes people a couple years to make the correct read in terms of what cuts they should make.” 

Listed as a guard, while at the same time being one of the Wildcat’s taller players standing at six feet, Louin creates matchup nightmares for opposing coaches and players. With the ability to guard all positions, post up smaller defenders and drive past larger ones, her presence on the floor and willingness to sacrifice for the team gives the Wildcats the flexibility to play a variety of lineups and styles. 

Although many talented players have fallen into the trap of relying on their talent and allowing complacency to seep into their game, Louin avoids this by keeping a chip on her shoulder and never forgetting it. Recruited by Notre Dame out of high school, Louin was originally disappointed after not receiving a scholarship. However, she took this rejection as fuel to prove her doubters wrong. 

“Every school that passes up on you, I think, is extra motivation to prove to them that you can be successful,” she said. 

As to why she eventually chose to come to Villanova, Louin highlighted the University’s high academic standards as well as the fact that, because her mother is an alumnus, she grew up a Wildcats fan. These factors, plus the sense of community at the school and its proximity to her hometown of Doylestown, PA, made the University the perfect fit. 

“The sense of community we have here, everyone tries to look out for each other,” she said. “Whether you’re an upperclassman or a freshman, I think there’s definitely a mutual bond we all have here.” 

Louin thinks this sense of community is a huge benefit to the basketball team specifically, pointing out how, unlike some other programs, all players on the team are best friends and live together. Although Louin says it can be difficult to find free time outside of academics and athletics, one of the special things she and the team do find time to do is community work in and around the city. The team often runs day clinics on campus and at schools around the area. 

“Having seen some bad parts of the city, it’s always a good opportunity to give back,” she said. “It’s not that hard for us to do, so any opportunity we have to help is definitely eye opening and we love to do it.”